No need to go pricer on the SSD and video card. The 256gb crucial I listed is one of the best, and the HD7970 is AMD's best video card. If you really want to spend more money(which IMHO isn't needed), you could look into a custom water-cooling system after you get the system up and running. The Hyper 212 heatsink and Gelid thermal paste I listed should allow for OC'ing up to around the 4.5ghz mark. But honestly, I can OC my 2600k to 4.9ghz with my current hardware, but instead just run it at 4.2ghz as that is plenty of power for my needs.

New Member

No need to go pricer on the SSD and video card. The 256gb crucial I listed is one of the best, and the HD7970 is AMD's best video card. If you really want to spend more money(which IMHO isn't needed), you could look into a custom water-cooling system after you get the system up and running. The Hyper 212 heatsink and Gelid thermal paste I listed should allow for OC'ing up to around the 4.5ghz mark. But honestly, I can OC my 2600k to 4.9ghz with my current hardware, but instead just run it at 4.2ghz as that is plenty of power for my needs.

How about saving the money for other things other than making the comp snazzy.
the $1000 could help you out get good things for college (I just started college here) Like better calculators, apparatuses, and more stress food

Kidding aside; $1500 is already too much for a guy like me, but that's just me

New Member

How about saving the money for other things other than making the comp snazzy.
the $1000 could help you out get good things for college (I just started college here) Like better calculators, apparatuses, and more stress food

Kidding aside; $1500 is already too much for a guy like me, but that's just me

Lol I know what you mean. But between my internship this summer and my current one, I've accumulated quite a bit of money on my hands. And I don't have a desktop, so I figured its time for a computer Don't worry, It'll make me more productive

But yeah, probably wont snazz up the computer, I'll just save it for something else.

Well I was hoping I'd use the SSD for most everything. I honestly don't use that much space, and the HD would just be for big stuff I have (music, video, ect). I think on my current laptop I've used only like 250 gb, and thats WITH a bunch of large videos and movies.

As I've said, I've already got the laptop. It's pretty decent for work, but not enough that it'll distract me with gaming

Bought my laptop this year. I was in a bind for a competition, so I bought it at a local computer store without really looking to much in the specs. Good laptop, just some kinda unnecessary things (dr.beat speakers and blu ray player come to mind)

Well I was hoping I'd use the SSD for most everything. I honestly don't use that much space, and the HD would just be for big stuff I have (music, video, ect). I think on my current laptop I've used only like 250 gb, and thats WITH a bunch of large videos and movies.

As I've said, I've already got the laptop. It's pretty decent for work, but not enough that it'll distract me with gaming

Don't get the 3770k if you're planning on running virtual machines, you will benefit from the VT-d on non-K edition skt1155 chips and all SB-E chips. Second, you're not going to need 32Gb of memory as a student (The most I've used for real-world work was about 14Gb doing development for work, and that included a game in the background eating up 4Gb), so it is a little unnecessary for a Comp Sci student. I know, because I use to be one before I graduated and 8Gb was way more than adequate.)

Honestly I would go for a 3930k, 16Gb of memory (across 4 DIMMs, higher density costs more and you don't really need it), a slightly smaller SSD (256Gb?), and a slightly larger PSU. Consider for a moment that the 3930k will give you better ability to multi-task, it will give you something more long term for upgrading than a 3770k (1155 is EOL after the 3770k so you'll be replacing motherboard and CPU if you decided to upgrade the processor.) IVB-E is also slated for sometime later next year. Also I would consider getting 3 1Tb drives and running RAID-5 so you have some redundancy there. It would be a real shame if you were working on a project all semester and then your drive fails on you.

Also, as a student you won't be developing anything big enough where 3 displays will really benefit you, that's just bragging rights and for eyefinity. With a budget like that, you're looking at a beast. I know what you're doing. I was a Comp Sci student once. Although, just consider that when push comes to shove, what ever you end up building will most likely do way more than you need it to, but it looks like that is what you want. In all seriousness, I would stay away from skt1155 with a budget like that despite what people have been saying thus far.

Also consider for a moment that if you're living in a dorm that you will be moving this computer a lot and 3 monitors takes up a lot of space and dorms tend to be small. I know that I couldn't fit more than my 22" + 28" on my desk before I decided to live off campus.

Keep in mind that just about anything you program for an under-grad comp sci degree will most likely run just fine on something as old as a Pentium 4, so you're building this computer so more fun than productive.

New Member

Don't get the 3770k if you're planning on running virtual machines, you will benefit from the VT-d on non-K edition skt1155 chips and all SB-E chips. Second, you're not going to need 32Gb of memory as a student (The most I've used for real-world work was about 14Gb doing development for work, and that included a game in the background eating up 4Gb), so it is a little unnecessary for a Comp Sci student. I know, because I use to be one before I graduated and 8Gb was way more than adequate.)

Honestly I would go for a 3930k, 16Gb of memory (across 4 DIMMs, higher density costs more and you don't really need it), a slightly smaller SSD (256Gb?), and a slightly larger PSU. Consider for a moment that the 3930k will give you better ability to multi-task, it will give you something more long term for upgrading than a 3770k (1155 is EOL after the 3770k so you'll be replacing motherboard and CPU if you decided to upgrade the processor.) IVB-E is also slated for sometime later next year. Also I would consider getting 3 1Tb drives and running RAID-5 so you have some redundancy there. It would be a real shame if you were working on a project all semester and then your drive fails on you.

Also, as a student you won't be developing anything big enough where 3 displays will really benefit you, that's just bragging rights and for eyefinity. With a budget like that, you're looking at a beast. I know what you're doing. I was a Comp Sci student once. Although, just consider that when push comes to shove, what ever you end up building will most likely do way more than you need it to, but it looks like that is what you want. In all seriousness, I would stay away from skt1155 with a budget like that despite what people have been saying thus far.

Also consider for a moment that if you're living in a dorm that you will be moving this computer a lot and 3 monitors takes up a lot of space and dorms tend to be small. I know that I couldn't fit more than my 22" + 28" on my desk before I decided to live off campus.

You're right this machine is a bit of overkill. I kinda want to just have it and not deal with a new computer for the next few years. Obviously nothing I program is going to have a hard time on any computer I'm running. It's more of if I want to try out 3D modeling, or for game development, circuit simulation, or other intensive programs like that. And of course for gaming

I honestly would like to have 3 monitors, because at work with 2 I still find myself alt tabbing the crap out of everything. I think 3 would be pretty cool, and I believe it would create a slight boost in productivity(when I'm programming I usually have 2 windows source code + debugger + window for API) I definetly have a soft spot for monitors And I have a custom build bed/desk that I made myself(yay carpentry!) that's plenty big to fit 3 monitors and then maybe another 3 and then some more. So plenty of space But I digress...

As far as VMs go, I don't really see the need why I would want to do that? I was thinking about more of the lines of dual booting with Linux and Windows (that's reasonable, right?), and I'll probably be spending 95% of my time on windows. That's probably the most I'd ever do. Unless you can give me a convincing argument for virtualizing....

I'll take your word on the processor. Upgradability is desirable, and multi-tasking is a MUST. If I change to the 3930k, would I have to change the motherboard as well. If so, suggestions? I not familiar with the new processors, so I'll take all the advice you have.

I'll also take your word on the extra RAM. 32 is a bit overkill, and I can always expand if needed. 16gb it is. Any suggestions for the RAM?

3 1 Tb drives seems like overkill! I'll take the 1tb and back up everything from the SSD, but really I don't use that much space. I'll honestly probably store everything on the SSD, and just have my computer that much faster. the HD will just be for backup + any really large files(movies, backup disk images, ect.)

You never have to restart to work in Linux. It's very unlikely you will need the full resources of your system for development and a lot of the code you will be writing will most likely be in linux if you're Comp Sci program is anything like the way mine was a few years ago. Plus, it gets you good at Linux without potentially wreaking your computer if you're not experienced with *nix.

Not for faster memory. By the time you upgrade the rest of your machine you might want another 16, but there is no way that this rig will ever need 64Gb of memory so using high density memory will just be a waste of money IMHO, it also doesn't typically overclock as well as lower density memory.

3 1 Tb drives seems like overkill! I'll take the 1tb and back up everything from the SSD, but really I don't use that much space. I'll honestly probably store everything on the SSD, and just have my computer that much faster. the HD will just be for backup any really large files(movies, backup disk images, ect.)

You say that now, but if you lose your 1Tb drive, you will be wanting a new one. At least with RAID-5 you know that if you lose a drive you won't lose all of your stuff. RAID-5 also gives you better I/O performance, writes are a little better and reads are amazing. I highly recommend it. It's only 2TB usable with 3 drives, but I recommend reading up what RAID-5 actually does and your stance might change. You don't need to get 1TB drives, but the redundancy that RAID offers will save you a lot of headache if a drive does decide to fail on you.

I'll take your word on the processor. Upgradability is desirable, and multi-tasking is a MUST. If I change to the 3930k, would I have to change the motherboard as well. If so, suggestions? I not familiar with the new processors, so I'll take all the advice you have.

I personally got the ASUS P9X79 Deluxe. It's a little expensive but it's an amazing motherboard. TPU actually has a review here on the site by Cadaveca. He actually convinced me to get it and it was one of the best purchases that I've ever made. The 3930k is better at multi-threading, but any decent modern processor will "multi-task" plenty well. The 3930k is more of an indulgence than anything else. Otherwise I would recommend the 3820 (which is what I have.)

what part of socal are you from? if youre near the OC area, Microcenter and 2 frys are in your range, with Frys price matching things you dont have to wait for shipping, and microcenter usually has the best deals on processors if your willing to pick up.

I'm worried that the choice in graphics card isn't the best. Should I stick with the 7970 and possibly crossfire it, or should I go with a GTX 670 or 680?
Do I need to improve the heatsink for overclocking/is it even possible with this processor?

Any more comments on how I can increase performance bottlenecks? (For gaming or multitasking)

@Aquinus

Honestly, I doubt both my solid state and my HD drive are going to fail at the exact same time. if one fails, I always have the other. I think spending a bunch of money on backing up more than once is a mute point for me in college

@dozer
Yes I am, actually. I'll check right now to get a ballpark for how much the processors are at microcenter. No pre-optimization though, I'll wait until I figure out all the parts before checking prices locally.

Is there a way to delete old posts? I want this to be on the bottom post and get rid of all my old build posts.